


Shogi Lesson

by Zoomda



Series: Fox in a Box [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, he just stucks at learning, i dont know how to play it but i know what it is now, i had to learn what shogi was to write this, naruto is smarter than you think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:01:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22235986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoomda/pseuds/Zoomda
Summary: Shikamaru learns a little more about Naruto.
Series: Fox in a Box [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600591
Comments: 1
Kudos: 42





	Shogi Lesson

Today in class, Iruka-sensei was having them play shogi against each other. He didn’t say it out loud, but Shikamaru knew that it was to have them try to out-think their opponents. It was going to be an incredibly boring class.

And Iruka-sensei had chosen the opponents before class, so he didn’t even get a chance to try to play against Sakura or Choji. The pink-haired girl would have made the best opponent. Choji would have been fine with Shikamaru falling asleep after one or two games. Instead, the teacher had selected the teams randomly and Shikamaru was stuck playing against Naruto.

Iruka-sensei had explained how to play and the etiquette of shogi before announcing the pairs, but the blond was just staring blanket at the board and pieces in front of him. Every once in awhile, he’d glance at the board in the front of the room. All of the pieces and how they moved were written up there, but Naruto’s expression grew more confused with every look.

Naruto has won the piece-toss, but Shikamaru was almost content to simply fall asleep and leave the blond to fret. 

Almost.

Shikamaru had never spent much time around Naruto, so he was slightly curious as to why everyone in the village despised him so much. The blond was loud, annoying, brash, and annoyed everyone with his constant pranks but so much that everyone hated him as much as they did. Shikamaru had asked his father about it once. His father had said that he wasn’t allowed to talk about it. 

Shikamaru knew his father. His father had given him the challenge to learn why the village hated Naruto. He hadn’t put much effort into it yet, but an opportunity to interact with Naruto had fallen into his lap. 

Shikamaru glanced at Iruka-sensei. The teacher was sitting at his desk, grading papers. Every so often, he’d look up to check on the shogi games before going back to his paperwork. Shikamaru made eye contact with Iruka-sensei and after a moment, let a smirk slide onto his face.

He was looking a gift horse in the mouth and he knew it, but he’d also bet good money that Iruka-sensei had purposely chosen the matchups between students. It was no secret that Naruto was Iruka-sensei’s favorite student. And Iruka-sensei had paired Naruto up Shikamaru, instead of someone like Choji, who would have been closer to Naruto in skill level. 

The only thing Shikamaru didn’t know was why Iruka-sensei had paired Naruto with him in particular. 

Naruto finally moved his first piece on the board. Shikamaru sighed, moved Naruto’s pawn back to its starting, and picked his head off his desk.

“Pawns can only move straight. They can’t go diagonally. You’d have to move the pawn straight, and then move it sideways.” 

Shikamaru slid Naruto’s pawn out, and then to the side as an example, before moving it back to its place in line. Naruto thought for a moment, then tried to move another pawn diagonally.

Shikamaru was suddenly both very glad and very upset that Iruka-sensei hadn’t given them timer clocks.

* * *

Shikamaru was having the most fun he’d had in a while. It had taken a while for Naruto to understand how all the pieces moved. He’d understood it more when Shikamaru physically moved his pieces and showed him where they could and couldn’t go. Then, things had really started getting fun.

Shikamaru wasn’t sure if Naruto was the world’s worst swordsman, but it was fun to play against him. He made decisions that Shikamaru could see going one way, but then turned them around to do something entirely different with it. Shikamaru wouldn’t admit it, but Naruto had almost had him in checkmate once. If the blond had been paying more attention to his unpromoted pawns, Shikamaru would have lost.

Eventually, Iruka-sensei announced that class was done and everyone could leave the shogi boards and pieces as they were. The students began filing out of the classroom. 

Choji waited by the door for Shikamaru, since the two of them normally walked home together. 

Shikamaru walked up and stood beside his friend. “I’m going to say for a bit. I want to talk to Iruka-sensei. You can go ahead.” 

Choji gave the Nara an odd look, but shrugged and headed out the door. Soon, Iruka-sensei and Shikamaru were the only ones in the classroom. Shikamaru approached the teacher’s desk. Iruka-sensei was still writing something on a piece of paper, but after a minute, set down the pencil and turned to face Shikamaru. 

“Can I help you, Shikamaru?”

“Why did you pair me with Naruto?”

Iruka-sensei looked confused. “The pairs were randomly chosen.”

“Bull. Even if they were random, you could have changed them. And you went around and helped the rest of the groups if someone didn’t understand. You knew that Naruto had never played shogi before, yet you never came and helped him, instead, relying on me to teach it to you. Naruto would have been better paired with Choji, but you paired him with me.” 

Iruka-sensei’s expression changed. Anyone would have missed it, but Shikamaru saw it and smiled. They were on an even field now.

“Let’s say, Shikamaru, that the teams weren’t random, you said I should have put Naruto with Choji. You know Choji better than I do, and you’ve been playing against Naruto for the whole class period. Do you think that experience would have helped either of them?”

Shikamaru knew the answer. 

“No. Choji knows how to play shogi, but he finds it boring to play something that outclasses him. And if Naruto had figured out how to play, Choji wouldn’t have been good enough to challenge him.”

“So, let’s say that I did choose the matchups, why would I have paired you and Naruto together?”

“Because you knew I would teach Naruto in a way that he understood. And because you know him well enough to know how he thinks and how he learns.”

“And?” Iruka-sensei was clearly waiting for Shikamaru to add something to his explanation.

“And because Naruto would have been a good opponent for me.”

Iruka-sensei smiled. “Now that sounds like pretty clear reasoning to me. Though that’s all still hypothetical, of course.”

Shikamaru nodded. “Of course.” 

Iruka-sensei straightened the papers on his desk before picking them up and heading towards the door of the classroom.

Shikamaru followed him. The teacher opened the door for his student and Shikamaru stepped outside. 

Iruka-sensei wished Shikamaru luck on getting home quickly and started walking away. Shikamaru stood beside the door and watch Iruka-sensei until the chūnin rounded the corner, out of Shikamaru’s sight.

After a moment, Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets and started towards his home. 

He may not have discovered why the village hated Naruto, but he had discovered something much more interesting. He’d discovered Naruto Uzumaki.

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by an idea a friend put forward in a discord server, where everyone in the rookie 12 eventually figures out about the nine-tails before Naruto does. After that, my hands did as they must.


End file.
